"Truth sits upon the lips of dying men."
~Matthew Arnold

Elsa

We set off at a trot to cover more ground but to avoid the possibility of missing his scent. Neither of us spoke a word. Despite it being only the beginning of October, the snow had started up again, and not lightly either. I thought the snowstorm a few weeks ago had been a fluke, but it seemed winter decided to come early this year.

Upon reaching the neutral territory, the only thing to be seen was the moon and stars reflecting on the glass surface of the lake. The wind blew through the leaves, chipmunks scampered over the ground, and owls hooted from the trees.

Nothing. Anna said morosely, putting her nose in the air in an unsuccessful attempt to catch his scent. But I wouldn't be discouraged. With my nose to the ground, I walked around slowly. The only scent of his I found was near the rock we'd been at just over three weeks ago. The smell was so faint I paid no further attention to it.

Is there a funny smell around here to you? Anna queried.

I sniffed the ground where she was to see what she meant. My nose met an odd sensation. I shifted into a human and promptly sneezed.

"Bless you," Anna said. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do. It's weird. I smelled it briefly, but it was like the moment it got in my nose, the scent of it disappeared. In fact, I can't even smell your perfume now." I sniffed the air and added, "I can't smell a thing."

Anna wrinkled her nose. "I can't smell anything either."

"We're going to have to rely on noise and sight. No more smell for now.... We need to stick together, though. I find this too suspicious."

We both shifted back into wolves for the nearly impossible scenario that a person came wandering through here. It'd look less suspicious to see two wolves than two human girls.

We'd barely taken two steps when something sounded to my right. I pricked my ears up, as did my sister. It happened again, this time slightly louder, but I recognized it.

Spencer.

I tore off in the direction of his howling, Anna struggling to keep up with me. I have no memory of the time I left the lake to the time I slid next to my boyfriend; it was all one, dark blur.

But the sight of him upon arriving was unforgettable.

"Oh my god," Anna breathed. She stared, ashen-faced, at the pool of blood forming underneath Spencer. He gripped his stomach in an attempt to stop more from coming out. He'd healed somewhat, but not enough.

Not near enough.

"Damn it, I don't have service," Anna grumbled. "And we can't howl, or we'll attract our pack."

"We have to carry him. We need to get him to his pack, or else he's going to die," I said. "Spencer, can you stand at all?

His eyes went in and out of focus as he shook his head. I ordered Anna to grab his legs while I lifted him from underneath his arms. His head lolled back on my shoulder. Spencer went deadweight on us, causing carrying him to be more of a struggle than anticipated, adding a whole new obstacle to the already stressful situation. Slowly, we managed to get moving towards his territory. We at least wanted to get within range of cell service.

"Elsa," Spencer murmured.

"Hey, I'm here. We're almost to your house. Just hang tight, okay?" I said. "Just stay awake."

"S... set me down. Pl-please. Hurting..." My eyes met Anna's. She nodded. We gently lowered him to the ground. I propped him up, allowing his back to rest against my chest. I cradled his head with one of my hands.

"We're deep in Stark territory now... I'm going to search for cell service and call Dom. I nodded. She sprinted off while I stayed in the icy cold stillness of the forest with Spencer. His hands slipped from his gaping wound, allowing the blood to seep out onto the ground. I hurriedly placed my own hands over it to try and plug it, forgetting I'd been cradling his head. I barely managed to lift my shoulder in time to stop his head from rolling off and hitting the ground.

"Don't... it's t-too mu-much," Spencer croaked out.

"Don't talk. Save your strength." I took my hands away and took off my jacket, holding it over the wound. The garment soaked up the blood like a sponge.

"Aren't y-you cold?"

"No," I lied as I shivered. Wolf or not, I was cold. On top of that, it was snowing, and I swear I felt each flake sting any bare skin it landed on. But I didn't want Spencer worrying about me. He had enough going on at the moment. I focused on keeping him calm and his wound from becoming worse. He had to survive this. I don't know how I'd handle it if he didn't.

My thoughts were interrupted by his hand cupping my face, encouraging me to look at him. His green eyes still sparkled, but I could see the light in them dying. A knot formed in my throat, threatening to suffocate me if I didn't get control of it.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" He said, a loving smile gracing his face.

"Yes, and you're going to tell me many more times. Stay with me, okay?" I braced my forehead against his, giving him the lightest of kisses on the lips. "Listen, I did not just face your entire pack to lose you now. We have a long road ahead of us, and that road can't continue if you die."

He chuckled, which caused him to cough violently. He regained control again, and his hand found my face once more, his thumb stroking my cheek. "Don't cry."

"I'm not crying," I protested.

"There are... tears r-rolling down your f-face," he coughed out. I noticed some blood trickling out.

"It's snow."

"Liar. Oh, how the t-tables have turned."

"Shut up," I said with a small, humorless laugh. "I wasn't dying in your arms after I got hit by that truck."

"If I die, at least I'll be in your arms," he said wistfully.

"Spencer!" Dom shouted, suddenly appearing next to us. A look of distaste spread across my boyfriend's face.

"I don't want to die in your arms," Spencer muttered.

"You're not going to die, you idiot," Dom said, scooping his brother into his arms. It was at this point I noticed Brian standing behind his Alpha. Anna stood next to me. When had they gotten here?

"Elsa, Anna, follow me," Dom ordered, not unkindly.

"Are you crazy? Bringing two Laroches to the compound?" Brian demanded.

"I don't care!" His Alpha roared. Brian flinched. "All I care about is getting Spencer back, and these two are the reason I'm able to do that. They're coming. If you don't want to be near them, then go find the others and tell them to regroup at the compound."

Brian hesitated, let out a long howl, then followed us. There was no way he was leaving his Alpha undefended.

The trek to the Stark compound took about ten minutes. It would've taken double the time had Dom not come along. Upon arrival, the only pack members there were Chris, Hayley, Rey, Callie, and Lily. The rest were quickly closing in, however.

"Get him into the living room," Mrs. Stark commanded, her voice quivering almost imperceptibly. Dom listened to his mother without any hesitation. Brian ignored us, following the oldest Stark. Callie narrowed her eyes at me as I walked past her, but I ignored her. All I could think about was making sure Spencer was okay.

Anna and I stood in the corner of the living room while Chris and Hayley barked orders at everyone on what to do. Spencer was speaking incoherently. We tried to remain invisible to avoid causing any more problems, but Jack and Callie wouldn't take their eyes off of us. I was all too aware of their piercing stares as I watched Spencer's family run around, trying to stop the bleeding.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, everything calmed down. The rest of the pack arrived, but except for the remaining O'Connors, no one else was allowed in the house. Mr. and Mrs. Stark didn't think Spencer wanted his packmates to see him in that condition.

"You two okay?" Dom queried, walking up to us.

"Is he going to be okay?" I replied, not taking my eyes off Spencer still form.

"He'll live. Chris and I patched him up, and he'll heal. May take some time, though," Mrs. Stark said, wiping her hands on a bloodied towel. Her eyes scanned over me and Anna, concern flickering over her face. "You two, follow me. Lily, come."

Anna and I shared a brief look with each other,wondering what was about to happen to us.